U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,063 to Bettcher discloses a knife having a removable blade. This patent is assigned to Bettcher Industries, the assignee of the present invention. The '063 patent discloses a hand knife having a ring-like rotary blade that is rotated by a motor in a handle that extends normal to an axis of rotation of the blade. The blade of the knife is rotatably supported in a housing that surrounds a part of the blade. The blade can be removed for sharpening or replacement of the blade. Other representative United States patents relating to rotary knives that are assigned to the assignee of the present invention are U.S. Pat. No. 4,439,924, U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,323, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,509,261.
Published German Utility Model DE 295 12 854 U 1 entitled “Rotating Cutter with Suction Removal for meat or fat” concerns a rotary knife. Meat parts that have been cut from meat are removed by a suction apparatus. The disclosed suction removal apparatus exhibits a tubular connecting piece, one end of which exhibits an outside diameter that essentially corresponds to the inside diameter of a ring-shaped blade housing and a second end of which is configured for connection of a hose.
As depicted in FIG. 2 of this German Utility Model a connecting piece is coupled to a blade housing to provide a connection between the blade housing and a hose coupled to a connecting container. The connecting piece is fastened in the blade housing by means of two screws. The connecting piece exhibits slots through which the screws pass. The screws are loosened somewhat so that the connecting piece is no longer clamped by the screws and can then be separated from an outlet opening of the blade housing.